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EXTENSION DIVISION 

BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 

Serial No. 915, General Series No. 704 
Issued monthly by the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Wisconsin 

Entered as second-class matter July 11, 1916, at the post-office at Madison, Wis., 
under the act of August 24, 1912 



Parent-Teacher Associations 



By 

EDITH E. HOYT 

- \ 

Instructor in Education 



Price 10 cents 




MADISON 

Copyrighted 
March. 1918 



IR^nograp'n 



GUIDED STUDY OUTLINES FOR CLUBS 

Clubs and other organizations of individuals in the 
different parts of Wisconsin may receive the benefits of 
university guidance in their club programs and studies, 
women's clubs and similar organizations that plan 
seasonal programs will be interested in the outlines 
now available. 

These outlines differ from the usual outlines in two 
important particulars. They carry with them, first, 
the privilege of direction, guidance, and assistance by 
the professor or instructor who has outlined the work; 
and second, the opportunity of at least one, and in many 
cases a series, of lectures given by the same person. 

By this method of informal correspondence not only 
is valuable time saved, but the studies become much 
more effective and interesting. It establishes a close 
practical connection between any group of citizens in 
any part of the state, organized for serious purposes, 
and the state university. 

The cost of an outline with all privileges of guidance, 
assistance, and answers to questions is merely nominal. 
The cost of the lectures varies slightly with the indi- 
vidual lecturers. 

Parent-teacher organizations will be especially inter- 
ested in two of these series of club study outlines. One 
is in the field of education and deals with the training 
of children and youth ; the other is in the field of home 
economics and treats of household management, the 
preparation of foods, and the care of children in health 
and in disease. 

Correspondence relative to these directed study out- 
lines is solicited. 



MAR 29 1918 










The University of Wisconsin 
University ExtexNsion Division 
Debating and Public Discussion 



Officers of Administration and Instruction 

Cfiarles Richard Van Hise Ph. D., LL. D., 

President of the University 

Louis E. Eeber, M. S. Sc. D., 
Dean, University Extension Division 

Parent-Teacher Associations 

By Edith E. Hoyt 
Instructor in Education 

The movement toward organizing parent-teacher as- 
sociations is growing rapidly in Wisconsin, and requests 
are constantly coming in to the Extension Division of 
the university for assistance in planning the organiza- 
tion and work of these associations. Accordingly, this 
bulletin has been prepared with the view of giving some 
general information and advice respecting parent- 
teacher Avork and also of serving in some measure as an 
incentive to the organizing of such associations where 
none exists. 

Need of Parent-Teacher Associations 
There can be no question as to the need of such an 
organization in every school district, whether it be rural, 
village, or city school. Since the home and the school 
share in the training of the child, they should certainly 
cooperate in that training; they cannot afford to work 
at cross-purposes, nor to regard one another with in- 
difference. Parents and teachers must get together and 
in a spirit of intelligent sympathy cooperate toward a 
common end, 

[3] 



Purpose 

The ultimate purpose of pareut-teacher associations 
is, of course, the welfare and successful training of the 
children of the school. But the more immediate pur- 
pose is the creating of a means or vehicle by which the 
community can come into constructive relationship with 
the school in practical Avays and by hearty and sincere 
cooperation with teachers and school boards provide 
means and stimulus for the greater effectiveness of the 
school plant. Moreover, the parent-teacher associa- 
tion is in a sense a cJearin.o^-liousc of information bc- 
•tween parents and teachers. . It enlightens the parents 
as to the needs of the school ; the difficulties the teacher 
has to confront ; and the kind of surroundings in which 
the child spends his school life. On the other hand, it 
enables the teacher to come into a more helpful and sym- 
pathetic attitude toward her individual pupils through 
contact with their parents. Nothing s© easily clears 
up misunderstanding and suspicion as frank, informal 
conferences between persons out of harmony with one 
another, and this unfortunate condition often obtains 
between teachers and parents. 

What the Parent-Teacher Association is Not 

The parent-teacher association is not in any sense an 
organization whose function it is to sit in judgment 
upon the academic work of the school, or to interfere in 
its methods of instruction or administration. The quali- 
fications of teachers in Wisconsin are carefully pre- 
scribed by law; ample and excellent provision is made 
for the training of teachers by the state; and the pro- 
fessional work of teachers is constantly scrutinized by 
competent inspectors from the State Department of 
Education. It would be well for the children of our 

[4] 



state if parents as a rule possessed a corresponding in- 
sight into the nature and needs of children and youth 
and the same intelligent devotion toward meeting those 
needs that teachers, for the most part, show. There 
have been instances, fortunately^ rare, where the par- 
ent-teacher association has meddled inexcusably with 
the academic work of the school ; where it has dis- 
cussed, the dismissal or retention of teachers ; or whei'e 

» 

it has used political methods to determine the personnel 
of the school board. This is plainly an unwarranted 
and improper use to make of the organization. 

Again, the parent-teacher association is not an ex- 
clusive club, dominated by the sociall}- elect, and used 
to further the social ambitions of a few leaders. The 
schools are for all the children of all the people, and 
the parent-teacher association is for all the parents and 
friends of all the children and youth in the community. 
It is, therefore, the oi'ganization above all others that 
touches impartially every home ; for it invites into its 
membership not only parents but everyone interesteil 
in children and youth. It is the one really democratic 
society in many communities for it sets up no barriei's 
whatever to membership. 

Associations are Community Organizations for Better Schools 

It has'^just been said that the work of parent- 
teacher associations is extra-curricular; it is done out- 
side the classrooms; and its influence is indirect as far 
as the- actual instruction of children is concerned. But 
• it must not be forgotten that every forward step in edu- 
•leation has come about ])ecausc of the enlightened in- 
ti^rest and cooperation of people outside the school, who, 
in conjunction with teachers and boards of education, 
have provided means for larger educational advantage 

[5] 



than would be possible to make provision for at once 
out of the ordinary school funds. But when the par- 
ents of the community have understood and realized 
the value of the new opportunity for their children they 
have willingly taxed themselves to provide it. For ex- 
ample, in this way the kindergarten has become an 
integral part of most school systems in our state. 
Manual training and domestic science, the vacation 
school, medical inspection, the school nurse, the dental 
clinic, playgrounds, the open air school, school gardens, 
and other opportunities indispensable to the sound 
training of children, have by ou.sid^ help become in- 
corporated into many schools. These things can be 
had by any community if only the parents and friends 
of children will cooperate with the teachers and the 
sch^jOi board to secui'e them. These, then, are some of 
the prime functions of the parent-teacher society: to 
make possible new departures in the educational field ; 
to provide means for the enlarging and enriching of 
school opportunity for the children of its community ; 
to add to the scholastic regimen opportunity for physical 
and social development. 

May Serve Also for Community Betterment 

Through the parent-teacher association two other 
kinds of activity can be carried on, each of which is of 
the utmost importance and value in the guidance of 
children and youth. 

First, the parent-teacher association may become the 
means of a general awakening of interest in community 
betterment. Through such an organization the great 
questions of amusement, recreation, vocational guidance, 
public health and sanitation, and many other matters 
which can be properly handled only through community 

[6] 



cooperation, may be discussed and working plans for 
improvement in all these matters put into operation. 

The subject of amusement and recreation for the 
young people of a community is one of its most vital 
problems whether these young people are all in school 
or not. One of the most valuable services community 
organizations can perform is to serve as a means for 
providing and directing the recreational activities of 
its youth. 

The parent-teacher association can easily become the 
nucleus of musical and dramatic clubs and thus reach 
a larger public and §ecure a greater influence than it 
could otherwise hope for. The importance of stimulat- 
ing and directing community interest in music and 
drama cannot be overestimated. Of all the fine arts 
these two are the most universal in their appeal and 
democratic in their effect. Community efforts in the 
developing and directing of interest in these two great 
arts are sure to be richly rewarded. Such efforts bring 
together in natural and friendly ways all classes and 
conditions of people, and thus foster community 
spirit. They serve to discover and develop talent w^hich 
would otherwise remain unknown and wasted. They 
also afford an incomparable means of wholesome en- 
joyment and recreation for those who participate in 
the singing or the acting, as well as for those who are 
spectators or auditors merely. In this way the parent- 
teacher association may prepare the way for larger 
community cooperation and may become the forerunner 
of the social center or the community center. 

While on the one hand, the parent-teacher asso- 
ciation may reach out to serve the community in a large 
and general way, on the other hand, it may afford to its 
individual members opportunity for self -improvement ; 
for in the second place, small groups within the parent- 

[7] 



teacher association may undertake the serious study of 
projplems affecting children and youth, and may pursue 
organized consecutive courses in child study and kin- 
dred subjects for the sake of self-improvement, and to 
become moi'e efficient parents and better citizens.^ 

Organization 

The rallying point of each parent-teacher associa- 
tion should be a specific school building. It may be the 
rural schoolhouse or the ^Yal•d school in a city, but it 
should always comprise neighborhood groups — those 
who send their children to the same building, and the 
teachers in that building; for snch a group has com- 
mon problems. It might be well, perhaps, where the 
high school is in the same building with the lower grades, 
to have two such oi'ganizations, one for the high school, 
and one for the grades below it ; for the problems of the 
high school are quite diffei'cnt from those of the grades, 
and require different treatment and a somewhat dif- 
ferent point of view. But Avhere tw^o organizations 
are thus found necessaiy, they may often unite in their 
meetings, and may cooperate in whatever pertains to 
the general intei'est of all the pupils of the building. 

While the pai-ents of children actually in school will 
naturally be the largest factors in such organizations, 
and teachers ai'c of course expected to belong to them, 
other adult citizens living in the neighborhood who 
have no children in any of the schools represented 
should be urged to ally themselves with the parent- 
teacher organizations. Such people are of the very 
greatest service, partly because they frequently have 
more leisure than busy fathers and mothers, and partly 



1 See page 2 of this bulletin. 

[8] 



because the}^ can bring to discussions of school problems 
a dispassionate attitude which many parents are unable 
to take. 

How to Organize 

Assuming that in any community a number of pro- 
gressive people (always including the head of the 
schools) have agreed upon the desirability of forming 
a parent-teacher association, we turn next to a discus- 
sion of the method by which this can be most effectively 
accomplished. An evening meeting should be held, if 
possible, so that the men of the community can attend \ 
and a date selected that will not encroach upon other 
regular social or religious gatherings. Invitations to 
attend this meeting should be sent by means of the chil- 
dren to the parents of every child in the school district 
or ward, and these invitations should clearly state the 
purpose of the meeting. 

In some cases a speaker from outside may be obtained 
to set forth the need and purpos'is of such an organiza- 
tion; but this is not at all essential. Often some one 
in the community who is a ready speaker can present 
the matter far more effectively than can a stranger 
with no knowledge of local conditions. Music will add 
greatly to the success of the meeting, and the help of 
local musicians should always be secured. It is es- 
pecially desirable that some community singing also be 
had, at least to the extent of one or two patriotic songs. 

After music and a brief address on what parent-teacher 
associations are and why they are needed, the meeting 
should be thrown open for an informal discussion ; sev- 
eral people should be ready to speak by previous ar- 
rangement, and the ice having been broken, the fullest 
and freest discussion should follow. After this the 
chairman of the meeting (who is usually, and most ap- 

[9] 



propriately, the head of the schools) should take a viva 
v^oce vote of the meeting as to the desirability of or- 
ganizing a parent-teacher society. Then, when the 
meeting has committed itself to the undertaking, an 
organization should be effected. A committee should be 
appointed to draw up a constitution, and when it is 
adopted, officers should be elected in accordance with its 
provisions. 

The following constitution, recommended by the Wis- 
consin Branch of the National Congress of Mothers,^ is 
admirable in its simplicity and sufficient as a basis for 
any such organization. 

Constitution of Parent-Teacher Association 

Article I 

This society shall be called the Parent-Teacher Asso- 
ciation of the School. 

Article II 

Its object shall be better mutual understanding 
between parents and -teachers and their cooperation in 
all work for the interest of the children. 

Article III 

Anyone interested in the purpose for which the club 
is organized is qualified for membership. 

Article IV 

The officers of the club shall be a President, a Vice- 
President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, elected an- 
nually at the meeting of the year. 



2 See Year Book, 1916. 

[10] 



Article V 
Regular meetings of the club shall be held on the 
afternoon (or evening) of each month. 



Special meetings by order of 

Article VI 
This Constitution may be amended at any annual 
meeting or by unanimous consent at any regular meet- 
ing when previous notice has been given. 

By-laws and Committees 

The By-Laws ..should contain standing rules of the 
society of such importance that they should be placed 
out of the power of any one meeting to modify, as dues, 
duties of officers, method of election, etc. % 

One of the by-laws should specify a number of stand- 
ing committees to serve for six months or a year, 
through whom much of the practical work of the as- 
sociation is carried on. The following committees are 
recommended as essential in any community ; more may 
be added to advantage under some circumstances. 

1. Committee to confer with teachers as to problems 
and needs of various schools. These conferences may be 
informal, out of school hours, or regular visits to the 
schools in session. 

2. Committee on program for monthly meetings, 
including music. 

3. Committee on social activities of the community, 
amusements, and recreation. 

4. Committee on safeguarding the general welfare 
and health of school children. 

These committees should report at each meeting; and 
through these reports and discussions following them, 
the association as a whole should come into close and 
sympathetic connection with the school. 

[11] 



Two Cautions 

It may not be out of place to add two cautions which 
the parent-teacher organization would do well to heed: 

First, much of the success of the organization depends 
upon the kind of officers first selected. They should 
be chosen with care and not at haphazard ui)on the spur 
of the moment. The officers should represent widely 
different interests and yet they should be capable peo- 
ple in whom all have confidence. While the school 
principal or some well-known and highJy respected 
teacher should have a place among the officers, it is 
usually best to have a school patron for president. 

Second, the parent-teacher association has not justi- 
fied its existence when it confines its activities to hold- 
ing meetings once a month. It is a working organiza- 
tion and its success is to be measured in terms of the 
actual constructive work it does in the community con- 
tinuously in behalf of its children and yoiitli. There 
is no virtue in getting together merely to listen to a 
speaker w^ho knows little or nothing of conditions in 
the town ; or to see and hear a musical or dramatic pro- 
gram prepared by the school. These things are Avell 
in their place and of occasional value, but they are 
not the real activities of an alej't and progressive par-" 
ent-teacher organization. 

What Some Parent-Teacher Associations Have Done 

It may be of value to suggest briefly some of the con- 
structive activities carried on by parent-teacher organ- 
izations in our own state. 

They have taken over and carried on the work of 
school gardens; they have bought victrolas and player 
pianos for their schools, and lanterns and moving pic- 
ture machines so that the schools might have the benefit 

[ 12 ] 



of the film, service offered by the Extension Division; 
they have equipped playgrounds ; they have provided 
facilities for domestic science and manual training; 
they have undertaken community dances, and com- 
munity festivals and pageants; they have taken up ser- 
iously the problem of moving picture shows and have 
brought about greatly improved conditions in many 
communities f they have been instrumental in providing 
school lunches, medical inspection, the school nurse, the 
dental clinics. These are some of the more obvious 
and spectacular activities of parent- teacher associations, 
in Wisconsin. But in more indirect and subtle ways 
they have worked constructively in the interest of 
children and youth, and for better feeling and under- 
standing between the school, the parents and the chil- 
dren. 

One valuable kind of help that such associations may 
confer upon parents should not be overlooked. For the 
solving of the most difficult problems parents have, the 
problems relating to the training of youth, can be greatly 
assisted if parents will cooperate, and agree upon a 
definite policy which all will pursue. If the parents of 
one high school pupil debar him or her rigorously from 
public dances, nightly visits to movies, and other doubt- 
ful forms of recreation, while all the other parents permit 
these things, the pupil thus deprived is quite likely to 
rebel under the restrictions and to be regarded with 
pitying superiority by the others. It is very hard in- 
deed for one family to hold out against the practices 
of all the rest; but parents who get together on this 
important question of the recreation of high school 



3 A rpnort bv Mrs. D. O. Head of Kenosha on the cooperation 
of the parent-teacher associations of that city with managers 
t6 secure suitable pictures, will be lent on application to the 
Department of Debating: and Public Discussion, Extension Divi- 
sion, University of Wisconsin, Madison, V^isconsin. , 

[13] 



pupils, and formulate a definite policy to wMcli all will 
adhere, may, to a large extent, solve the whole problem. 

One further advantage that parent-teacher organiza- 
tions offer to a community is this : they bring together 
in a friendly spirit people who would never come to 
know one another. There are many things to separate 
people in the same community; conflicting business 
interests, differences in politics, religion, nationality, 
and social status. The parent-teacher association 
ignores all differences and appeals to the commonest 
and most fundamental impulses in adult life, affection 
for children and youth and interest in what conserves 
their welfare. 

The parent-teacher organization is a great generator 
of social feeling and energy, which like the power of 
electricity may be turned into a thousand beneficient 
channels. In other words, this organization is so 
flexible and so democratic that it can turn its efforts 
into new and unexpected directions and keep pace with 
the needs of the time. 

Activities in War Time 

This is illustrated by the war activities of parent- 
teacher associations in our state. In many localities 
these organizations have turned their entire attention to 
war needs in the present world crisis. They have or- 
ganized Junior Red Cross societies among the children 
in the grades; they have become branches of the Red 
Cross; they have had food demonstrations and have 
been the means through which the propaganda of food 
conservation has been disseminated. They have sewed 
and knitted for the soldiers in training camps and 
abroad ; they have raised money in various ways for the 
help of the Red Cross and Allied Relief. Some of 

[14] 



them have organized garden clubs among the children 
to increase food production; they have been the means 
in some cases of bringing into the community speak- 
ers to set forth the meaning of the war and to interpret 
its significance as a vindication of democracy and hu- 
manity. This is perhaps the most striking illustration 
of the way in which the parent-teacher organization 
may, in times of emergency, turn all its activities into 
new and necessary directions. 

Some of the activities of parent-teacher associations; 
have been briefly indicated; but it may be well to add 
a somewhat detailed outline of plans of work possible 
to such organizations. 

It is evident that the work will depend to a large ex- 
tent upon the local situation. Community problems 
are always local, yet some general principies, derived 
from the experience of many such organizations, may 
be helpful, at least in making a start, which is, after 
all, the most important thing. 

Three Lines of Effort 

Three distinct lines of effort are open to parent- 
teacher associations. All of these are important, each 
will aid the others, and none will ever conflict with any 
of the others. These three lines of effort are as fol- 
lows: 

First, work for the school. 

Second, work for general community betterment, es- 
pecially with reference to youths who are no longer in 
school. 

Third, serious study of the nature of childhood and 
youth, and problems pertaining to them; or of other 
problems of equal importance such as municipal organ- 
ization and government, and problems connected there- 
with. 

[15] 



Plans of Work 

Following is an outline which is intended to be sug- 
gestive rather than complete, of some subjects for in- 
vestigation and some kinds of activity wliich parent- 
teacher associations may undertake to advantage. 
I The school. 

A The external and physical characteristics of 
the school. 

1 School grounds, are they ample for play? 

Have they apparatus or other ap- 
pliances for outdoor gymnastics? 
What improvements are obviously 
needed? 

2 The building, — its heating, ventilation, 

toilet facilities, cleanliness, and general 
care may be investigated. 
3 Equipment for successful teaching. Study 
should be made of the lighting, seat- 
ing, blackboard space, necessary ap- 
pliances, general homelikeness, and 
cheer of the various rooms. 
4 Each teacher should be asked this ques- 
tion : What do you need most to make 
your work more effective? A list of 
real needs as teachers see them might 
be made the subject of investigation, 
and means taken to supply them. 
B Organization and administration of the school. 

1 A general study may be made of the last 

school report. 

2 The school fund — how^ much; how great 

a proportion of the total tax; how di- 
vided and administered? 
[16] 



3 How is the school board constituted? Is 

there a woman on the school board? 

4 Are teachers adequately paid? 

5 Get from the city superintendent or sup- 

ervising principal a list of the most 
urgent needs of the school, and discuss 
the same. 

6 All schools should be visited regularly 

and reports made as to their needs and 
problems. 
C Curriculum and management of the elemen- 
tary school. 

1 Are any children out of school who be- 

long there? Is there a truant officer? 

2 How many children repeated grades ac- 

cording to last report? 

3 Are defective children specially provided 

for? Is there an ungraded room? 

4 Do all children having training in music, 

drawing, domestic science, manual 
work, gymnastics? 

5 Is there medical and dental inspection? 

6 What vocational guidance if any does the 

school provide? 

7 A study should be made of 

a The vacation school 
b The open air school 

D The high school. 
Some of the subjects most vital to the interests of the 
high school are as follows: 

1 The Junior high school, or the ''six and 

six" plan. 

2 High school debates. 

3 High school athletics. 

[17] 



4 High school dramatics, declamations, ora- 

tions. 

5 Supervision of amusement and recrea- 

tion for high school pupils, 

6 Fetes, pageants, and folkdancing in the 

high school. 

7 Vocational training in the high school. 

8 The simplifying of high school commence- 

ments. 
II The community. 

The second large division of the possible activities of 
a parent-teacher association has to do with the com- 
munity. The school is only one community enterprise, 
though the greatest and most important. But indirectly 
the school is a reflection of the standards of the com- 
munity, and cannot rise much higher than they do. 
Some vital community subjects are as follows: 

A Public health. 

1 Clean streets. 

2 Efficient health officer ; the visiting nurse. 

3 Safe water supply. 

4 Some pure food legislation. 

5 Conditions in bakeries and meat markets. 

6 Sewage disposal. 

7 Garbage disposal. 

8 Pure Milk. 

B Public morals. 

1 The proper lighting of streets and parks. 

2 The need of a police matron. 

3 The supervision of public dances. 

4 The motion picture show, 

5 Are our ordinances strictly enforced? 

6 The juvenile court. 

7 The probation officer. 

[ 18 ] 



(' Public safety — safety-first movement. 

1 Desirable automobile and motor-cycle 

regulations. 

2 Special provision for the safety of school 

grounds. 

3 Provisions for enabling every child to 

learn to sAvim, and for first aid to the 
injured. 
D Public recreation. 

1 Community dances. 

2 Community fetes, pageants, and the com- 

munity Christmas, and other festivals. 

3 Public parks and facilities for bathing, 

rowing, skating, and coasting, are a 
necessity in any progressive conimunity. 
Ill Club study for mothers. 

The third kind of activity which may be fostered by 
a parent-teacher association is the serious study by 
small groups of mothers of the various problems per- 
taining to childhood and youth. This kind of work 
will of necessity be pursued by mothers rather than 
fathers for the most part, and it should be carried on 
as an adjunct to the more ob.vious and public Avork of 
the organization. Small groups of mothers, not to ex- 
ceed fifteen or twenty, may meet once in two weeks or 
once a month for such work. A study club of this kind 
has a threefold value. It is in the direction of self- 
improvement; it Avill make mothers more alert, intelli- 
gent, and efficient in the training of their children; 
and it will bring together in an informal and sociable 
connection women Avho are interested in the same prob- 
lems and seeking the same ends, but who often are 
separated from one another l)y conventional barriers of 
nationality, religion, or social stratification. 



[19] 



CLUB STUDY SUBJECTS 

Two large general subjects should occupy the atten- 
tion of such mothers' clubs, viz: 

I The physical welfare and care of children and 
youth. 

1 Stages of growth and physical development. 

2 Dietaries suited to various stages. 

3 The school lunch. 

4 The care of children's teeth. 

5 Gymnastics and athletics suitable to various 

ages. 

6 Sex hygiene. 

II The mental and moral training of children and 
youth. 

1 Stages of mental growth and developjiient. 

2 A study of human instincts. 

3 How children learn. 

4 Habit formation. 

5 Some fundamentals of good character. 

6 Some common faults of children. 

7 The possibilities and perils of the adolescent 

period. 

As has been indicated previously, the scheme outlined 
above is intended to be suggestive rather than arbitrary. 
It is presented as a basis from which divergence and 
adaptation may be made. Every community has its 
own specific problems. Much depends upon the size 
of the place; the kinds of industry predominating; the 
characteristics of the population, whether homogeneous 
in nationality, religion, and social traditions, or highly 
diversified in culture, religious affiliations, and econo- 
mic conditions. 

But all conmi unities are alike in this: they have a 
vast responsibility toward the children and youth in 

[20] 



their midst, and it is in the hope of assisting them 
somewhat to discharge their obligation that this bulle- 
tin has been prepared. For no community is so in- 
different or so sordid but that it can be aroused to bet- 
ter things; and to accomplish this three things are 
needed. 

First, the community must learn to see its defects, 
and recognize its needs. 

Second, it must get together. The various elements 
composing it must sink their differences and cooperate 
with loyalty and persistence toward the common end. 

Third, there must be competent, unselfish leadership. 

Since the strictly rural community has problems 
peculiarly its own, there is herewith appended a list 
of topics especially adapted for discussioi'* and study 
by such clubs. 

TOPICS FOR RURAL PARENT-TEACHER CLUBS 

Sanitation of the schoolhouse; how may its ventila- 
tion, lighting, heating, and toilet facilities be improved? 

School water supply — well or cistern. 

School lunches. 

How may the school grounds be improved! 

How may simple and inexpensive playground equip- 
ment be provided? 

How may sewing and cooking be introduced into a 
rural school? 

How may elementary manual training be introduced 
into a rural school? 

Why and how should provision be made in the rural 
school for play and recreation? 

What should growing children eat? 

The value of school gardens and school agriculture. 

Organizing school agricultural contests such as corn 
growing, and potato raising, tomato clubs, and bread 

clubs. 

[21] 



Training girls to help in the home. 

Giving school credit for work done at home. 

How to keep children well ; the cause and prevention 
of childhood ailments such as colds, headache, coughs, 
and communicable diseases. 

First aid to the injured; what to do in common ac- 
cidents. 

Teaching boys and girls to save. 

How can the school library be improved? 

The visiting nurse in rural communities. 

AID OFFERED 

The Extension Division of The University of Wis- 
consin is ready at all times to offer suggestions, advice, 
and recommendations to parent-teacher associations or 
kindred organizations. 

The Department of Information and Public Welfare 
is organized expressly to give community service in 
various ways, through the community institute and 
other forms of welfare work, including civic and social 
center development. 

One of the most valuable services offered under the 
general direction of this department is that given by the 
Bureau of Community Music and Drama. This bureau 
offers advice and direction free to any community in 
the state which is interested in the formation of musical 
or dramatic clubs ; it also lends plays and music suitable 
for the use of such clubs. The chief of the bureau, 
has prepared a bulletin giving full and complete in- 
formation and direction for the successful carrying on 
of such clubs, including a valuable bibliography of 
suitable material for them. This bulletin is sent upon 
request and without cost to any resident of the state. 

The Department of Instruction by Lectures provides 
instruction and entertainment for the people of the 

[22] 



state and it stimulates and reinfoi'ces the various other 
lines of activity carried on through the Extension Di- 
vision. 

The Bureau of Visual Instruction, through its printed 
lectures, stereopticon slides, and moving picture films 
dealing with a great variety of subjects of interest to 
parents as well as to children and young people, is 
another agency which if utilized will be of the utmost 
service to parent-teacher associations. 

The Department of Debating and Public Discussion 
is organized to serve groups and various kinds of or- 
ganizations in the state which are engaged in study and 
public discussion. Cities and towns having public 
libraries can without doubt enlist the cooperation of 
librarians in securing material for the disclission and 
study of the various subjects listed above. Where this 
material is not available at the local library, or where 
there is no library, material on all the foregoing sub- 
jects will be lent to any resident of Wisconsin free of 
charge in the form of books and package libraries, upon 
application to the Department of Debating and Public 
Discussion, Extension Division, University of Wiscon- 
sin, Madison, Wisconsin. The purpose for which the 
package is needed should be definitely stated so that 
a judicious selection may be made. 

Leaders of parent-teacher associations will frequently 
find material assistance and direction in carrying on 
such work through the consecutive and systematic study 
of cetain courses offered by the Correspondence-Study- 
Department. Bulletins describing these courses are 
sent to any address upon application. 

The following list of references on parent-teacher as- 
sociations has been prepared by the Department of De- 
bating and Public Discussion, Extension Division. The 

list covers practically all phases of parent-teached acti- 

[23] 



vity, and will be supplemented from time to time as 
new material appears. All the material listed may be 
borrowed from this Department if it cannot be found 
in local libraries. 

BibHography 

Andrews, F. F. Parents' associations and the jjublie schools. 
Charities and Commons, pp. 335-4;], Xovenibcr 24, 1906. 

Bradt, Mrs. Samuel E. Elhvood school parent-teaclier associa- 
tion. School and Home Education, pp. ] 89-90, February, ]91G. 

Bright, Mrs. Orville T. Parent-teacher association — A link be- 
tween home and school. S(ihool Xews and Practical Edu- 
cator, pp. 53-4, October, 191;!. 

• Suggestions as to aim and nu'thods in the parent-teacher 



associations. School and Home Education, pp. 222-223, 
February, 1915. 

Butler, Nathaniel. Parents' association. School Ueview, pp. 
78-88, February, 1908. 

Childe, Elii'-abeth. Parents and education. Outlook, pp. 539-541, 
March 3, 1915. 

Child- Welfare Magazine. Official organ of the National Con- 
gress of Mothers and Parent-teacher associations. Pub- 
lished at 41 North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pu. 

Churchill, J. A. Parent teacher associations in the rural and 
village schools of Oregon, 1915. Issued by J. A. Churchill, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Salem, Ore. 

Community welfare program for women's clubs and parent- 
teacher associations. Bulletin of the Extension Division, 
Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., Vol. I, No. 10, June, 
1916. 

Denison, Elsa. Organizations solely for helping schools — organ- 
ized parents. In her Helping School Children — suggestions 
for ef6.cient cooperation with the public schools. Ch. 6, pp. 
l]5-]23, 1912. New York, N. Y., Harper and Brothers. 

[ 24 ] 



Fleming, Florence S. Parent-teaclier associations from the stand- 
point of a parent. School and Home Education, pp. 148- 
9, December, 1914. 

Grice, Mary Yan Meter. Home and school united in widening 
circles of inspiration and service, with prefatory notes by 
Elmer Ellsworth Brown, and Martingrove Brumbaugh, 1909. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Christopher Sower Co. 

Griswold, Sarah E. The rise of the P. T. A. The purpose and 
spirit of parent-teacher association. School and Home Edu- 
cation, pp. 301-3, April, 1915. 

Hefferan, Mrs, H. M. Notes from parents' associations. Ele- 
mentary School Teacher, pp. 372-5, February, 1905. 

Keeler, Edith Nelson. A successful parent-teacher association. 
Educational Bimonthly, pp. 26-30, October, 1916. 

King, Irving. The social relations of home and g^hool. In his 
Social Aspects of Education. Ch. 4. Contains bibliography 
on home and school, 1912. New York, N. Y., Macmillan 
Co. 

Langworthy, Mrs. B. F. The parent-teacher association — a 
school for parents. School and Home Education, November, 
1915. 

McKeever, William A. Home and school cooperation. The 
parent-teacher association. In his The Industrial Training of 
the Girl. Ch. 4, pp. 37-45, 1914, New York, N. Y., Mac- 
millan Co. 

National Congress of Mothers and Parent-teacher associations. 
Child welfare in home, school, church, and state. What prom- 
inent educators think' of the movement. National Congress 
of Mothers and Parent-teacher Associations, 906 Loan and 
Trust Building, Washington, D. C. 

Child study for child welfare. How to organiye parents' 

associations or mothers' circles in public schools, with 
suggestions for programs. Thirteenth ed. rev. 1914. 
National congress of mothers and parent-teacher associa- 
tions, 910 Loan and Trust Building, Washington, D. C. 

[25] 



■ Wisconsin Branch, 1915-16. 

Perry, Clarence Arthur. Recreation the basis of association be- 
tween parents and teachers, 1911. No. 87. Department of 
Child Hygiene of the Eussell Sage Foundation, 400 Metro- 
politan Tower, New York, N. Y. 

Philips, W. L. Urban home and school league. Annals of the 
American Academy of Political and Socia'l Science, pp. 148- 
55, September, 1916. 

Rankin, Janet R. Suggestive studies of school conditions. An 
outline of study in school problems for M^omen's clubs, par- 
ent-teacher associations, and community organi7ations, 1916. 
Issued by C. P. Cary, State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, Madison, Wis. 

Schoff, Mrs. F. National congress of mothers and parent-teacher 
associations. Annals of the American Academy of Political 
and Social Science, pp. 139-47, September, 1916. 

Shreves, R. M. Parent-teacher associations and their workings. 
Wyoming School Journal, pp. 264-266, May-June, 1915. 

Simms, Edna Lynn. Rural parent-teacher associations. Mother's 
Magazine, p. 37, June, 1915. 

U. S. Bureau of Education. List of references on mothers' clubs 
and parent-teacher associations, June, 1914. Department 
of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 

Wagner, Charles A. Parent-teacher associations. Journal of 
Education, pp. 397-8, October 28, 1915. 

Wagner, Charles A. Parent-teacher handbook, September, 1915. 
Commissioner of Education, Delaware. 

Wilder, Georgene H. Private matters and public discussion. 
School and Home Education, pp. 111-112, December, 1916. 

Wilson, Elizabeth Kissick. Parent-teachei associations — a means 
of solving problems. School and Home Education, pp. 332- 
334, May, 1915. 

Young, Mrs. William F. High School parent -teacher associa- 
tiong, School and Home Education, pp. 250-1, March, 1915. 

[26 3 



Periodicals Listed Above 

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 
Science, Philadelphia., Pa. 

Charities and Commons, now Survey, E. T. Devine, 105 East 
Twenty-Second Street, New York, N. Y. 

Educational Bimonthly, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 111. 

Elementary School Teacher, University of Chicago Press, Chi- 
cago, 111. 

.Tournal of Education, N. E. Publishing Co., 29A, Beacon Street, 
Boston, Mass. 

Mother's Magazine, D. C. Cook Publishing Co., Elgin, 111. 

Outlook, Outlook Co., 287 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 

School and Home Education, Public School Pjjblishing Co., 
Bloomington, 111. 

School News and Practical Educator, C. M. Parker, Taylorville, 111. 

School Eeview, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 111. 

Wyoming School Journal, Laramie, Wyo. 

INDEX 

Aid Offered •. 22 

Better Sc?iools 5 

Bibliography 24 

Cautions, Two 12 

Constitution 10 

General Community Betterment 6 

Outlines for Guided Study 2 

Parent-Teacher Associations : 

How to Ors'aniKe 9 

Need of 3 

Organization of 8 

Plans of Work 16 

In School 16 

In Community 18 

Club Study 19 

Subjects 20 

Purpose 4 

Results Obtained 12 

Three Lines of Effort 15 

Rural Parent-Teacher Associations 21 

Wa r Time Activities 14 

What Parent-Teacher Association Is Not 4 



[27] 



UNIVERSITY EXTENSIOI 

THE DEPARTMENT OF GENER. 
AND WELFARE will mail bulletins on 
the state, and elsewhere on receipt of p 

It offers assistance to communities c 
four organized bureaus as follows: 

3I1TNICIPAL. REFERENCE 

Information, advice and con- 
sultations on matters of con- 
cern to municipal authorities 
— fire piotection, paving, garb- 
age collection, dance hall reg- 
ulation, city manager, commis- 
sion government, police, etc. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 605 227 6 



HEALTH INFORMATION 

Information on specific 
points through its press 
service and by correspondence; 
health exhibits and institutes; 
bulletins on health subjects 
by experts; illustrated lec- 
tures on health; Courses for 
public health officers. 



C03I3IUMTY CENTERS 

Cooperation in communit,^' 
self-organization and Social 
Center development. Inforina- 
tion upon equipment, form of 
organization, programs, secre- 
tarial and directorial methods. 
Bulletins, correspondence, com- 
munity surveys, and lectures. 



COM3I UNITY MUSIC 

Lectures on the influence of 
music in the life of a com- 
munity; organization to pro- 
mote community music; ad- 
vice, Information, and direc- 
tion "vi^here communities de- 
sire to promote communfty 
culture by music. 



In ad-dition to these specialized activities, the department 
aids communities in their particular problems by: 

C03IMUNITY WELFARE IN- SOCIAL. SERVICE INSTI- 
INSTITUTES: TUTES: 

On health, recreation, town 
promotion, dependency, juve- 
nile delinquency, child wel- 
fare, social education, etc. 



For the larger cities that 
wish to make an intensive 
study for six weeks of particu- 
lar social problems. 



WELFARE SURVEYS: 

On which to base welfare 
institutes and exhibits. If a 
complete social survey is de- 
sired, the department cooper- 
ates with the community in 
securing proper persons to 
make it. 

EXHIHITS: 

On health and recreation 
with others in process of con- 
struction. 



ENGINEERING SERVICE: 

Local studies and expert ad- 
vice on municipal and sanitary 
engineering subjects. Surveys 
and reports made on water 
supply ajid purification, sew- 
age disposal, roads and pave- 
ments, refuse and garbage 
disposal, street cleaning and 
sprinkling, city planning, 
plumbing regulations, and 
sanitation. 



THE BUREAU OF VISUAL INSTRUCTION lends free 
within the state, lantern slides and moving picture films on 
educational and welfare subjects. 

THE DEPARTIVIENT OF INSTRUCTION BY LECTURES 

will mail on request a bulletin on the lectures, lecture 
courses, and university chautauquas. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEBATING AND PUBLIC DIS- 
CUSSION will mail on request bulletins on debating and dis- 
cussion of public questions, free within the state, and else- 
where on receipt of price. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRESPONDENCE-STUDY 
offers instruction in studies required in many lines, bulletins 
on which will be mailed free on request, 

[ 2S ] 



